Medical science has advanced tremendously in the last century to include the use of numerous complex internal procedures to treat various human conditions. Many of these procedures require a surgeon to puncture or slice into a portion of the internal human anatomy in order to perform a particular process. For example, many cardiology procedures require accessing the internal portion of a corporeal vessel. After a procedure is completed, the surgeon must repair damage to the internal organ or vessel in order for the patient to properly recover. While it is possible to suture or seal the skin and other large organs after the procedure, it is not always possible to suture delicate vessels with the same technique. Therefore, new techniques have been developed to seal punctures and incisions in delicate vessels such as arteries and veins.
One device currently used to seal punctures in delicate vessels in a quick and efficient manner so as to minimize the recovery time of patients undergoing these types of procedures is the Angio-Seal®. The Angio-Seal® is commonly used to seal arteriotomys including those created when the femoral artery is deliberately punctured in order to perform a vascular procedure. The femoral artery is often punctured in order to clear blockages or obstructions in the patient's circulatory system. Examples of the Angio-Seal® are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,282,827 and 5,662,681, which are hereby incorporated by reference. These patents describe certain embodiments of Angio-Seal® devices and procedures for sealing an arteriotomy or other internal punctures and incisions.
As described more fully in the aforementioned patents, when an Angio-Seal® is used, an anchor is most often inserted through an arteriotomy and positioned against an interior wall of an artery. A collagen sponge is positioned at an exterior wall of the artery above the arteriotomy. The anchor and collagen sponge are then sandwiched or compressed together to facilitate rapid hemostasis and sealing of the arteriotomy.
The process of sandwiching the anchor and the collagen sponge together is initially performed manually by pushing a tamping tube distally while exerting a proximal force on a suture extending from the Angio-Seal® device to the collagen sponge and anchor. A tamping spring is then attached to the distal end of the suture between the tamper tube and a crimp stop on the suture so as to maintain opposing forces on the suture and the tamping tube. Unfortunately, the extra step of attaching the tamping spring to the suture further complicates the procedure and requires the use of the extra external spring component, which may be misplaced or misused during the surgery. Surgeons often perform extremely complex procedures and it is important to simplify devices as much as possible so as to allow them to concentrate on patient care, and not on extraneous components. In addition, a faster method of sealing an incision generally translates into less blood loss for the patient. Therefore, there is a need in the industry for a device that is capable of simplifying the process of tamping or sandwiching an internal and external component together in a tissue puncture sealing device such as an Angio-Seal® device.